Sui and Aptos Explained: Complete Details of the Next-Gen Blockchains

The blockchain world is constantly evolving, and among the most promising developments are Sui and Aptos—two high-performance Layer 1 blockchains designed to overcome the limitations of current blockchain infrastructure. Created by teams formerly involved in Meta’s (formerly Facebook’s) blockchain initiatives, these projects aim to bring speed, scalability, and user-friendly development to decentralized applications.

In this article, we’ll explore:

The background and origins of Sui and Aptos
Their core technologies and unique features
Consensus mechanisms
Programming models
Ecosystem growth
Key differences between them

1. Background: Meta’s Diem Legacy

Both Sui and Aptos trace their roots to Diem, Meta’s ill-fated stablecoin and blockchain project. Diem aimed to create a scalable and efficient global payment system but was eventually shut down due to regulatory hurdles.

The Move programming language, which was developed for Diem, has lived on and is now at the heart of both Sui and Aptos. Two groups of engineers from Meta spun off into their own projects:

Sui was developed by Mysten Labs, co-founded by former Meta engineers including Evan Cheng.
Aptos was developed by Aptos Labs, led by Avery Ching and Mo Shaikh, also former Meta leaders.

While both projects started from the same roots, they’ve taken very different design paths.

2. What is Sui?

Overview

Developer: Mysten Labs
Launch: Mainnet launched in May 2023
Language: Move (specifically a modified version called Sui Move)
Goal: A highly scalable, low-latency blockchain designed to support interactive and data-rich applications like games and social media.

Unique Features

a. Object-Centric Data Model

Sui takes an object-first approach to managing data on the blockchain. Each piece of data is treated as an object, which has its own unique ID and owner. This model is unlike traditional blockchains that store data in a global state. The benefits of this include:

Easier management of NFTs and game assets
Faster execution of transactions that don’t require consensus (see below)

b. Parallel Transaction Execution

Sui classifies transactions into two types:

Owned-object transactions: Can be executed in parallel, without needing consensus.
Shared-object transactions: Require Byzantine Fault Tolerant (BFT) consensus.

This allows Sui to process simple transactions extremely fast, achieving throughput in the hundreds of thousands of TPS under optimal conditions.

c. Scalability

Thanks to its architecture, Sui achieves near linear scalability by allowing nodes to process transactions independently. This is ideal for use cases that demand high throughput and real-time performance, such as:

Web3 games
Real-time apps
Social media platforms

3. What is Aptos?

Overview

Developer: Aptos Labs
Launch: Mainnet launched in October 2022
Language: Move (original Diem Move with enhancements)
Goal: A secure, scalable, and upgradeable Layer 1 blockchain for general-purpose dApps

Unique Features

a. Modular and Flexible Design

Aptos was built to be modular, meaning its consensus mechanism, state execution, and storage layers are independent. This allows:

Upgrades without breaking the network
High customizability for developers
Future-proofing as technology evolves

b. Parallel Execution with Block-STM

Aptos uses a parallel execution engine called Block-STM (Software Transactional Memory). It allows smart contracts and transactions to be executed concurrently, which greatly improves performance.

This design reduces transaction bottlenecks.
Aptos has achieved over 160,000 TPS in testing conditions.

c. Focus on Developer Experience

Aptos provides robust support for developers through:

Smart contract templates
Developer SDKs
Tooling and documentation

This has attracted a growing community of developers building wallets, DeFi platforms, games, and NFT marketplaces.

4. Move Language

Both blockchains use the Move language, a Rust-based smart contract language originally developed for Diem. However:

Aptos uses Diem Move with some minor improvements.
Sui uses Sui Move, a modified and object-centric version of Move.

Why Move?

Move offers strong security guarantees:

Resource-oriented programming: prevents double-spending
Formal verification: developers can mathematically prove smart contract logic
Flexibility to build secure, upgradeable applications

5. Consensus Mechanisms

Sui: Narwhal & Bullshark

Sui decouples data availability (handled by Narwhal) from consensus (handled by Bullshark, a DAG-based protocol). This modular approach allows for:

Fast processing of simple transactions
Secure handling of complex, shared-object transactions

Aptos: AptosBFT v4

Aptos uses a variant of the HotStuff consensus protocol called AptosBFT v4, which provides:

Fast finality (sub-second)
Fault tolerance
Flexibility for future upgrades

6. Ecosystem and Adoption

Sui Ecosystem

Sui has attracted developers focused on:

Gaming (e.g., 3D NFT games)
SocialFi (social + finance apps)
NFT platforms
Wallets and identity protocols

It has partnerships and grants encouraging dApp development, especially interactive and real-time applications.

Aptos Ecosystem

Aptos has seen rapid ecosystem growth:

DeFi protocols like PancakeSwap (ported from BNB Chain)
NFT marketplaces (Topaz, BlueMove)
Wallets like Petra, Martian
Bridges, oracles, and DAO tooling

Aptos has raised significant VC funding and is backed by FTX Ventures (before collapse), a16z, Multicoin Capital, and others.

7. Key Differences Between Sui and Aptos

Feature	Sui	Aptos
Developer	Mysten Labs	Aptos Labs
Programming Language	Sui Move (Object-oriented)	Diem Move (Account-based)
Execution Model	Parallel via Object Ownership	Block-STM Parallel Execution
Consensus Mechanism	Narwhal + Bullshark	AptosBFT (HotStuff-based)
Transaction Speed	Extremely fast (hundreds of k TPS)	Very fast (tested up to 160k TPS)
Target Use Cases	Games, social, NFTs	General-purpose dApps
Launch Date	May 2023	October 2022
Ecosystem Focus	Real-time apps	DeFi, NFTs, infra

8. Challenges and Criticisms

Sui Challenges

Less mature ecosystem compared to Aptos
Complexity of Sui Move may deter new developers
Still proving real-world performance

Aptos Challenges

Criticized for centralized token distribution in early stages
Association with failed FTX exchange
Move language still unfamiliar to many devs

9. Conclusion

Sui and Aptos are shaping up to be foundational platforms for Web3’s next wave of innovation. By building on the strengths of the Move programming language and focusing on parallel execution, they aim to solve the blockchain trilemma of scalability, security, and decentralization.

Whether you’re a developer building scalable dApps, an investor seeking high-performance infrastructure plays, or a blockchain enthusiast, keeping an eye on Sui and Aptos could be essential in the years to come.